


I've got a really bad feeling I'm gonna love you so good

by amesantiagos



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: B99 Summer 2019 Fic Exchange, F/M, Fluff, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-30 13:14:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20097793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amesantiagos/pseuds/amesantiagos
Summary: A typical Friday night at Shaw's bar with the Nine-Nine ...or not quite.“Really, I just wanted to check if you’re okay.”“Why wouldn’t I be?” She frowns at him, her eyes dark in the dimly lit booth, “and why do you even care?”“Well, first off, that’s rude,” he raises he eyebrows at her, “and secondly, because you’re my partner, and I know I normally come across as a badass, emotionless action-hero like type– ”“No, you don’t.”





	I've got a really bad feeling I'm gonna love you so good

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as a part of the b99 summer fic exchange for romanovember on tumblr, whose prompts were 'pining, fluff and pre-series timeline'. Also, this is literally the first fic I've ever posted because I normally chicken out before I make it this far, so I hope everyone enjoys it!

It was a typical Friday night at Shaw’s bar; the music was loud, the atmosphere was bustling, and the Ninety-Ninth precinct were drinking away their worries from the previous week.

The bartender was serving Jake as he stood at the bar, half listening to Charles blabbering away about some recipe he had found online the night before – after the words ‘fresh blood’ and ‘soup’ were mentioned in the same sentence Jake had decided it was best to just nod and smile. His absent gaze drifted across the room as he tried to ignore the gory details Charles was excitedly explaining to him.

As usual for a Friday night, Captain McGinley, Hitchcock and Scully were struggling to stay awake at their table and, like normal, Terry was on the phone to Sharon who was on her way to join them. Gina and Rosa were on another table drinking in silence, which was to be expected – but what wasn’t expected was the currently empty seat next to Rosa. Jake head towards the others, leaving an exasperated Charles at the bar. 

“Hey, where’s Santiago?”

Rosa looks up and tilts her head to somewhere behind him and he spins around. Sure enough, Amy was currently sitting alone at a booth in the darkest corner of the bar, nursing a drink and bobbing very slightly along to the music playing in the background. Which is definitely not where she normally was on a typical Friday night at Shaw’s.

Amy was the newest member of the Nine-Nine, and although she had been a little more hesitant about joining them at the bar to begin with, she’d now become a frequent patron, much like the rest of the squad.

“You should go talk to her.” Charles whispers in his ear, much too close for comfort.

“Charles!” Jake jumps back and scoffs as Charles over-exaggerates a wink and eyebrow wiggle. “Ugh, get out of here.”

Jake brushes him off and makes his way to the other side of the room. The general background chatter and laughter that is floating through the air begins to quieten as he reaches the dingy corner booth Amy is occupying.

“What do you want, Peralta?” she mumbles, her eyes never leaving the glass in front of her.

He wasn’t expecting such a cold reception, and pauses to takes her in. She’s deflated in her seat, shoulders slumped, and she her blank gaze appears to be focused straight through rather than on her glass. For someone so normally put together, Jake finds it a more than a little alarming to see her looking so down, especially considering the other empty glasses discarded on the table. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she replies slightly too bluntly. “Why?”

“Well, after a few drinks you’re normally a little bit more…” he trails off as her eyes snap towards him.

“A little more what, Peralta?”

“Uh… lively?”

“I’m lively,” she huffs and starts to unenthusiastically wiggle along to the faint beat of the song playing from the speakers a few tables up from them. She turns her head and stops as soon as she makes eye contact with an unamused Jake.

“Oh yeah, well I’m totally convinced now.” Jake gently slides into the seat next to her, the smell of faint cigarette smoke and stale beer that must have soaked into the seats reminding him why this area of the bar was empty in the first place. “I mean, that was some quality dancing, I don’t even know why I thought anything was up in the first place.”

She responds with a sigh. Not an eye roll, no frown, just a small sigh, which only causes Jake’s concern to grow. “Amy—"

“Seriously, what do you want?”

“Really, I just wanted to check if you’re okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She frowns at him, her eyes dark in the dimly lit booth, “and why do _you _even care?”

“Well, first off, that’s rude,” he raises he eyebrows at her, “and secondly, because you’re my partner, and I know I normally come across as a badass, emotionless action-hero like type– ”

“No, you don’t.”

He ignores her, but can see a familiar glint in her eye starting to surface, “…but I do actually have a heart, so it hurts that you think I wouldn’t care about how my _partner _is feeling.”

“I’m fine. Now can you please just let me sit here and drink in peace?”

His heart sinks. That was not the response he was expecting, and he really was worried about her. “Is this about that suspect who escaped earlier?”

She sighs and looks away from him. “Look, this is the first case I’ve worked with Diaz, and I just wanted it to go well,” Amy sighs, and runs her hand down her face. “We’d been on him for weeks, we had him cornered and… and it’s my fault he got away. It’s my fault, Jake.” Her head sinks between her arms on the table. “I messed up. I know that it happens sometimes, but I thought I was better than that.”

“Amy–” Jake tries to stop her from spiralling.

“And if that’s not bad enough, Diaz doesn’t even know what happened and she’s so intimidating, I don’t even know how to tell her,” she mumbles. “How can I catch dangerous criminals for a living when I’m too scared to even talk to my own co-worker?”

“Hey, Rosa’s not_ that _scary. Did you know that she…” he stops, and furrows his brows. “Huh, I actually don’t really know anything about her. Did you know that she lives somewhere in New York?”

Amy lifts her head and stares blankly back at him.

“I mean, I think she does,” he shrugs, beginning to doubt himself.

“That doesn’t help.”

“Yeah, sorry. But don’t worry about it too much, I accidentally let criminals escape all the time.” He takes a swig of his drink and grins at her.

“Jake, that’s not a good thing!”

“Yeah, but I’m still the best detective at the Nine-Nine.”

“That’s not true.”

“Look, all I’m saying is that you don’t have to be a perfect detective to be a great at your job.”

“Well, maybe that works for you you, but if I want to be a Captain one day…”

Jake rubs his temples and curses under his breath; if being light hearted wasn’t working, he was going to have to get serious.

“Amy, hey, look at me. You have met our Captain, right? The man who slept through literally everything that happened today? The man who didn’t even blink an eye that time those two sumo wrestlers got into a fight in the middle of the bullpen? And the rest of us aren’t much better, remember the time Hitchcock got beaten up by that prostitute? And the time Charles accidently had sex with a murderer?”

“Ugh, how could anyone forget that?” Her nose scrunches up in disgust, and Jake can’t stop his mind from pointing out how adorable it was. He doesn’t quite know what possesses him to do it, but he gently places his hand over hers. She shifts slightly closer to him, and presses against his side. She’s more relaxed now, so Jake continues.

“And not to inflate your ego or anything, but you’re definitely the smartest and most level-headed person in the squad, and you’re already a great detective, even if there are things you would do differently if you did things again. I guess it just helps prepare you for the future, or whatever. None of us are perfect, Santiago, there’s still hope for you yet.”

She looks up at him like she’s seeing him for the first time, despite having worked together for almost a year now and lets out a breath. “That was… weirdly inspiring.”

“What can I say, it’s kind of a hidden talent of mine.”

And she smiled at him. For the first time. Well, not really; she’d definitely smiled at him before. But not like this. This was a real smile, a genuine smile, not a ‘Peralta quit your bullshit’ smile, or a ‘I’m just trying to be polite’ smile, or even her stiff professional smile. A smile that sparked in her eyes and made her whole face light up, and somewhere deep, deep down it ignited something inside him as well.

They both pause, lingering in the moment for just a little longer than necessary, before Amy blinks and removes her hand from under his, leaving Jake surprisingly disappointed by the absence of contact. She clears her throat before breaking the silence that’s now beginning to drown them.

“Well, thank you, it, uh, that’s actually really helped.”

“That’s what I’m here for, to offer great advice and look good doing it,” he flourishes his point with a wink and a grin.

Amy rolls her eyes, and Jake’s never been more relieved to see someone openly disapprove of him.

“Ah, there she is!”

“Shut up,” she says, but her eyes are still smiling.

Before they can get to caught up in the moment again, they’re interrupted by thudding footsteps approaching them, followed by Charles sliding into the booth with such force that Jake guesses he probably ran from the other side of Shaw’s.

“Hey guys, what’s going on?” He greets them in a voice a few octaves higher than usual.

“You okay there, buddy?” Jake grimaces internally, knowing that Charles is about to get super weird, super quick, but before he can come up with a plan to avoid any potential awkwardness Amy’s phone starts to loudly buzz.

“Sorry, I should get this,” she says, quickly excusing herself and leaving Jake and Charles alone at the table. 

“So… Anything you need to tell me about?” Charles’ voice still hasn’t quite regained its normal pitch.

“Boyle. We were just talking. Amy was upset and I cheered her up, end of story. Now please stop being weird?”

“Uh-huh,” Charles stares at him for an uncomfortable few seconds before continuing, “You can’t ignore fate, Jake. I know It’ll happen one day, and I’m never wrong. Remember how I predicted Terry and Sharon? I almost feel like I’m Cupid!”

“You didn’t even meet Sharon until she and Terry had already been together for months.”

“Yeah, but when he told he us he was going on a date I said it was going to go well, and look at them now,” he’s almost bouncing with enthusiasm as he gestures towards the bottom of stairs where Terry is greeting his girlfriend.

“Okay, you’re maybe like Cupid’s distant, distant,_ distant _cousin, because you’re_ way_ off base about everything else right now.”

“Mm-hmm, whatever you say, Jake.” 

Jake finishes his drink and tries to push Charles’ comments to one side, figuring that maybe if he just ignores him, he’ll give it up. Besides, Jake thought, she may be undeniably beautiful, but Amy was basically the opposite of him in every way imaginable, and despite Charles’ odd prodding, nothing was going to change that. But for some reason he can’t comprehend, he can’t quell the nagging thought in the back of his head that maybe, _maybe_, there was something to what Charles was saying after all, even if he wasn’t quite to admit it to himself yet.


End file.
